Five different HISD schools were recently named “Champions off the Field” by the Souper Bowl of Caring for their efforts to fight hunger.
This annual food drive and fundraiser, which ran from Jan. 20 – Feb. 7, generated more than $9.9 million in donations nationally this year, a portion of which came from the 33 HISD schools that participated.
Students from dozens of HISD schools began gathering canned goods and other non-perishables this week to help fight hunger in Houston through the Souper Bowl of Caring. The annual food drive, which is designed to channel sports enthusiasts’ excitement about professional football into helping the less fortunate, kicked off on Jan. 20, and students have already started collecting donations.
“When I think of hunger, it’s always been in the context of a place far away, like a third-world country that is impoverished,” explained Carnegie Vanguard High School student Christine Huang. “The fact that Souper Bowl of Caring really focuses on the national and local levels is something I’ve never seen before.”
Jonathan Simmons, a student at HISD’s Waltrip High School, has been chosen to serve on the Souper Bowl of Caring’s (SBOC) national youth advisory board this year.
The junior was one of only 14 students selected from across the nation to participate, and Jonathan was chosen after completing a rigorous application process that required students to submit a number of essays explaining why they wanted to serve.
As a part of his board duties, Jonathan delivered a speech in front of 500 guests—including Houston Texans CEO Bob McNair—at that organization’s Tackle Hunger Houston luncheon on Sept. 30. Continue reading
For the past three weeks, schools across HISD have been participating in activities related to the Souper Bowl of Caring, a national campaign that encourages people to collect food for the needy.
At Stevenson Middle School, for instance, students gathered over 2,300 canned goods and non-perishable food items for the Houston Food Bank, while cheerleaders and football players from Lamar High School competed in a friendly relay race dubbed the “Grocery Dash and Pass” at a local supermarket to raise awareness.
And students at West University Elementary School collected a whopping 28,000 pounds of food to help feed the hungry (read related article in the Houston Chronicle).